Hetalia Underworld
by moldie07
Summary: Vash is a contractor for the underworld. A mercenary willing to do anything for money, from killing to protection work, there is nothing that he wouldn't for some cash. But someone is after him, sending assassins to his house, threatening his and his sister's life. Now he is on a mission to hunt down his attackers, to stop them from threatening his sister's life again.
1. Chapter 1: Vash's Day

I'm using human names for this story, for my sense of neatness

Also Liechtenstein doesn't have a canon human name, so I'm just using the fan Lili for this one

* * *

Money, that's what makes the world go round. And money at times needs you to do anything for it, anything at all. At least, that's what Vash believes, and it's what he does. He never had a good skill set, or at least not by most people standards. He wasn't good at art, he was a shocker at manual labour, and he detests office work, not wanting to be close to other people. But he was good with weapons, and so that was what he made his living out of. He's been a mercenary, an assassin, a bodyguard, and even something's he would rather soon forget, calling himself a contractor, willing to take any contract. For he would do anything for money, and whatever money he did get he would hold onto as long as he could, save every single cent to the very end.

But that doesn't matter at the moment, for right now he had a job to do. He had been hired by the Nordics, a gang of people from the Scandinavian countries. They wanted him to take someone out, a routine assassination job, nothing he hadn't done before. He was lying on a windy roof top of a building, about thirty metres in the air, his rifle trained across the street into a small café. His target was low hanging fruit, a common mobster, but the Nordic's wanted him gone and they're willing to pay, and that's all that mattered to Vash.

When the man sat down at his table, Vash fired. The target flew back, blood spraying across the table and wall, showering the other patrons in a mist of red. Without missing a beat, Vash unloaded his rifle, stood up, and slinging the rifle over his back walked back to the stairs. He didn't worry about the police tracking him down; the Nordic's always assure that they would clean up after him.

Loading up his rifle into the trunk of his car, he disassembled his rifle has he did so, putting it back into its case. He quickly drove away from the building, the sirens growing louder behind him. He drove a few blocks, before parking again in a parking lot, getting out and swapping cars, driving off again. He headed towards his rendezvous point for the Nordics. His contact goes by the name of Norway, a man of average in a dark blue suit. He was his usual contact, a man of few words who only gives him the target and the money, and Vash was absolutely fine with that. His contact was standing at the pier, facing off into the cold the sea.

Vash parked his car, getting out and slinging his rifle bag over his back, having moved it to the front seat when he changed cars. He walked up and stood next to Norway, dropping his rifle down to his feet.

"The target has been eliminated?" Norway asked stoically.

"I wouldn't be here if he hadn't been, you have my money," Vash replied.

Norway turned and started to walk away from Vash, never looking at him in the face, "The money has been wired, thank you for your services."

Vash didn't bother to try and talk to Norway anymore. He didn't care for him, truth be told he really didn't for anyone. Well, there is one person. He walked away, ditching the car, being too easy to trace and expensive to run. With his rifle bag over his shoulder he walked back into the depths of the city. He walked the span of the city, not stopping once to take either bus or tram. Soon he was into the green forests surrounding the city, heading up into its growing mountains.

The sun was setting before he was able to reach his house. He lived a two story house in the mountains surrounding the city, inaccessible by cars, no roads leading to it. Vash knew that living in such a place limited access, and that's what he wanted. In the off chance that he is found out he wanted people getting here as difficult as possible.

He walked through the front door into the house, taking off his black coat, hanging it on the coat hanger. As he did so he could hear the shout of "Big Brother?" go through the house.

Before he could even say anything he could hear running coming down the hallway. Running into his arms was his younger sister, Lili, a girl with a short blonde bob like his own though it had a blue ribbon in it, wearing a light pink dress. "You're home big brother," she cried into his chest.

Vash put his arms around Lili's shoulders awkwardly, never fully used to hugging people. "I'll always be home, but I am sorry for being late."

"It's ok, I have dinner ready for you," she left his embraced, and taking his hand he began to lead him towards the dining room. He quietly slipped off his rifle bag before he followed her, slipping it behind the stand next to the front door.

She led him to the head seat at their dining table, leaving him at the table as she went off to the kitchen. Vash took off his green jacket, putting over it over his chair before sitting down. Lili was the one person in the world he cared about, the person that he would lay down his life for. It's for her that he does all of this, for her he became this contractor. On his own there was no way he would've been able to support his sister, not whilst still staying within the law. But he would never tell her of what he does; all she knows is that he goes into the city to work on contracts, but never what the contracts are.

Lili walked back into the dining room form the kitchen, carrying a plate of chicken schnitzel with steamed vegetables. She placed it before him, sitting down in the chair next to him. "Aren't you going to eat?" Vash asked Lili, turning to her.

"I already have, big brother. I ate whilst I was waiting for you," she replied.

Vash slowly cut into his meat, taking his time eating his dinner, washing down his food with a glass apple juice. "How did your classes with Mister Edelstein go today?" Vash said.

"Very good, he said I was getting a lot better at the piano, and that I might be able to do one of the harder pieces soon" Lili smiled at Vash.

Vash slowly nodded his head as Lili then continued, "He also continued my art lessons, and I did a painting of some of the roses in the garden."

"In the morning I should see it," he commented.

Lili clapped her hands together, "That would be great big brother!" Lili stopped for a second, putting her finger to her mouth in thought, "Elizabeta also come over with Mister Edelstine today, and she helped me with me sewing."

"That's good," Vash said, laying down his knife and fork as he finished his meal, "I think it's time for you to go to bed Lili."

"But you just got home big brother," Lili complained.

Vash got up from his seat, picking up his plate and cutlery as he did, "I don't have work tomorrow, so I'll spend it with you."

Lili smiled, her face brightening, "That would be great big brother. I'll go get changed right away."

Vash patted her on the head, "You do that, and in a few minutes I'll put you to bed." He headed towards the kitchen, leaving Lili to go up the stairs in the hallway up to her bedroom. The kitchen itself was clean, Lili having cleaned up her cooking from earlier while she was waiting for him. He smiled to himself lightly as he cleaned his plate, thankful that Lili was happy when he was away. He would prefer to spend more time at home with her, taking the role of her tutor himself. But he just doesn't have the time for it, the work being so time consuming, that the days he got off are few and far between.

He left his plate drying on the dish rack, heading towards the stairs to go put Lili to bed. He waited outside her bedroom door for a few seconds, before knocking and asking, "Are you ready?"

"Yes big brother," came from the opposite side of the door.

He opened it up and walked through the door. Lili was lying in her canopied bed, dressed in pink pyjamas, similar to the one she made for him. She was smiling lightly as he walked over to her, though he could see her eyes starting to droop with sleep. He pulled up her covers to her chin, tucking her in.

"Big brother?" she asked as she drifted to sleep.

"Yes Lili?"

She yawned, "Can we have a picnic tomorrow?"

Vash straightened his back, "Of course," but before he could talk Lili closed her eyes, her breathing slowing as she fell asleep.

He left her room, resting on the door outside of her room, sighing. He went back down stairs, to the front door. He gathered his gun bag at the front door and coat, slinging them over his shoulder as he walked towards his study on the first floor. He didn't stop at his desk when he walked into it, heading straight for the cupboard at the far side of the room. It opened down into a stair case, unlit as it drifted down into the earth. He didn't look back as walked down the dark staircase, heading towards his lair underground.

There was a steel door barring the entrance to the room at the end of the staircase. Vash quickly entered the entrance code at the keypad next to the doorway, beeping in the silent night. The door swung open as he entered the final code, leading into a room filled with cold blue steel. To say the room was sparse would be an understatement. It had the bare minimum to function as a base of operations for Vash as a contractor. The far wall of the room was covered in monitors, tracking everything from the surrounding forests, to bounties posted by the government and offers for work made by criminals like the Nordics. The wall to his left held his weapons rack, covered with top grade Swiss weapons, ranging from pistols to snipers and assault rifles. He had enough guns on the rack to wage a small war. The all on his right had his operation clothes and armour, including bullet proof vests and even a high tech bullet proof trench coat, able to withstand fire from a rifle.

He threw his coat near the right wall, landing in a mess near it. He walked over to the left wall, moving the bag strap from his shoulder to his hand, and began opening it up. When he reached the wall he began to pull out the guns he had used today, replacing the rifle and pistol to their places on the wall. After that he opened up secret drawers that lined the weapons rack, each filled with a different type of magazine and round, returning the unspent magazines and rounds from the day. As he left the wall though, he took down an old rifle, a K31, a favourite of Vash.

He sat down at the desk that was just before the monitors, laying the rifle out before him. He half consciously began to take apart and put back together the rifle as he scanned the information on the terminals. There had been no new bounties from the government, meaning that the Nordic's had done their job and had cleaned up for him. There was a report though on his assassination, but there was so little information other than that someone was killed to worry him. There was a mission for an assassin though, but it was for tonight and had appeared to have already to be taken by someone else. It didn't list the target though, but it said the target was both highly trained and viscous, and that would easily take down a dozen men without blinking. This peaked Vash's interest, wondering who this person could be. The money offered was astronomic to say the least, thirty million just for one person.

When Vash had finished pulling apart and putting back together the K31 he got up and returned it to the rifle to its place on the rack. As he was doing this he went and cleaned up his coat from earlier, hanging it up on the wall with the other clothes. Vash then returned to the desk, and started to look up on specific information rather than general information his system had picked up. He started off with his bank account, to check and see if the Nordic's had come on through with their side. They had. The fee had been at two hundred thousand, leading his account to stand at roughly thirteen million.

He leant back in his seat, relaxing, and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

The shadows were thick in the alleyway, as a man leant against the wall in the shadows. He was shrouded in a deep cloak, a grey scarf wrapped around his neck. His job often did not lend him to waiting for others, but tonight was special. Other man walked down the alley towards the other, shrouded in a black cloak. The man with the scarf didn't move as the other approached, but he did tighten his grip on the iron pipe at his side.

"You have hired me?" the cloaked man asked, with a Japanese accent.

"Da," he replied, smiling.

"Who do you require me to kill?"

The scarfed man handed him a paper, smiling again. As soon as the cloaked man had taken the paper he turned away, whistling into the night. The cloaked man look at the picture for a moment, reading what was written on it. He dropped the paper, letting it float to the ground as he disappeared into the night. As the paper floated to the ground a street lamp's light reflected off of it, Vash's face glowing in the night.


	2. Chapter 2: Attack on the House

Alarms rang throughout the room, light flashing in the night. Vash started, his hand reaching for the empty holster at his side. He looked around the room, his ears ringing with the alarms, eyes pierced by the flashing red lights. Quickly entering the password, he disabled the alarms that had woken him up. He checked the monitors around the wall, trying to find the cause of the alarms.

His eyes widened when he saw why.

Nearly all of his perimeter alarms had been triggered. The entire forest surrounding his house was covered with intruders, about four of them. There would only be one reason for so many people trying to enter his house that this time of night. He was under attack, someone had sent an army after him, and someone was trying to kill him. Leaping from his seat he ran to the weapons rack, stopping only long enough to pick up a Sauer GSR, a silencer for the gun and enough ammo for the people going towards his house. He didn't bother stopping for any of his body armour, he didn't have enough time. The hostiles were already too close. He left the room, stopping only long enough to lock up the room. Lili was in the house, and he would kill everyone before they laid a single finger on her.

He ran up the stairs, his face stern and silent. He so dearly wanted to shout out, to see if Lili was alright. But he didn't dare, he didn't know if they knew that Lili was in the house, and the last thing he wanted to do was to subject her to a bloodbath. He slowed down when he reached the top of the staircase, taking care to hide the sound of his footsteps, to not alert the attackers of his position. He crept out of the wardrobe that hid the staircase, pistol held out before him. He waited at the door to the study, listening for the attackers. The first few should have reached the house by now, and would begin searching the house. Vash's first goal was to get to Lili and make sure she is safe. She was the top priority right now; he had to get her out of here. Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside of the study, the first of the many people here to die tonight. The footsteps were soon followed by the sounds of lightening and rain, the spaces behind the curtains flashing with lightning.

Cracking open the study, Vash peered into the dark hallway, searching for the enemy. He saw the back of the first intruder, looking into the laundry just down the hallway, carrying what appeared to be an AK47 at his side. Vash crept out of the study, his pistol ready at his side, his feet barely making a whisper on the floor. Quickly crossing the distance between them, Vash placed the pistol at the base of the man's neck. Vash gagged at the stench of the man, a mix of alcohol and filth. The man turned to face Vash, realising with horror just what lay before him. He opened his mouth to, probably to beg for mercy.

But Vash didn't even give him the chance. Blood sprayed across the wall, as the bullet pierced the man's skull and scattered his brain on the floor. Vash caught the man as he fell, laying him quietly on the ground to muffle the sound. He wiped his bloodied hands on the man's clothing, cleaning his Sauer as well. He checked his white shirt, also stained with blood, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

Vash walked down the hallway, crouching down to make his body less visible. He leant around the corner, checking the entrance hallway. He wasn't able to see anyone there, but he knew there should at least be on other person in the house, most likely in the dining hall or living room. Knowing his luck there would most likely be one in each. Vash decided that he would deal with the dining room first, then move onto the living room.

He crouched down low, walking swiftly on silent feet towards the dining room. He slipped into the room quickly, holding to the shadows and keeping to the wall. The dining hall was dark; Vash having turned off the house lights when he had went down into the lair. The kitchen light was on though, a tell-tale sign that someone was searching it. He swept towards the kitchen door, a shadow lurking within the dark. He examined the kitchen, and the man inside. He was different from the man before. This one was large, wide at the girth, and he was currently filling his mouth from Vash's pantry. This angered Vash, beyond the calm anger of someone daring to attack his home, tot eh anger of a person violated. This person would dare to intrude his home, threaten his sister, and then proceed to stuff his face with his food. Absolutely outrageous!

He didn't even bother this time to get close and try and catch the man's fall. He aimed and without warning shot. This time Vash was feeling vindictive, and wanted this pig to suffer. How dare he eat his cheese! The bullet pierced his jugular, blood spurting out spraying the area with a fine red mist. The man collapsed to the ground, his hand to his throat as he tried to keep his lifeblood within him. But for all his writhing was for naught, for no matter pressure he put, nothing could stop him from bleeding out.

Not wasting time, Vash left the dining hall, leaving the other man dead on the kitchen floor. He was quick to leave the dining hall that he didn't look ahead of him. He shot out of the dining hall and straight into the last man searching the bottom floor. The both crumbled into a mess on the floor, Vash's pistol skidding across the floor one way, the attacker's rifle another. It took Vash a few seconds to realise what had just happened, long enough for the other man to get his hands around Vash's neck, who was under him. It didn't take long for the man to start to chock the life out of Vash, who was thrashing on the floor underneath him.

This wasn't how Vash was going to die. He wasn't going to die on the ground, being chocked by a common thug to death. He still had Lili to protect, to make sure that she grew up and led a better life than he had. He stopped his thrashing about, calming his body. He knew that he couldn't waste energy on trying to force his way out, but would have to rather rely on cunning. The attacker loosened his grip on Vash's next, his small intellect confused by the sudden cease of struggling. This was the only opening Vash required to win. Vash reached to the knife at his belt, quickly drawing and slashing upwards. The attacker fell back, his chest cut deeply and bleeding profusely, dousing Vash again in more blood.

Vash pushed the man off of him, who was still in shock from having been slashed so suddenly from what he thought a defeated enemy. Vash took quick work of the dazed man. Pushing him onto the ground and on his back, he took his knife and cut his throat, ending his miserable existence. Getting to his feet, Vash checked his shirt, and was dismayed to see that it was drenched in blood. This was one of his finest shirts, sewn by Lili herself, and there was no way he would be able to get the blood out now. But that doesn't matter now, there was only one person left, and he was most likely waiting outside.

As he was going over to pick up his pistol, a scream ripped throughout the house, shattering Vash's heart. He picked up his pistol, then running to the stairs, leaping up them four at a time. His heart was beating so hard against his chest that it blotted out nearly all other sound, his world reduced to a frantic beating of heart and feet. He was wrong on were the final attacker was, he wasn't waiting outside, he had begun to search the top floor ahead of the others.

As he ran he began to hear the voice of the final attacker, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" another scream followed. Vash doubled his pace, sprinting with all of his might.

Vash burst through the door as these words were said, "Don't scream little girl, we're just going to have some fun." The final man was standing before Lili's bed, leering down at her. She was pushed up against the bed's back, trying to pull her pyjama bottoms over her hips, the man having pulled them.

A snarl emanated from Vash's voice, like a beast from the forest. He launched himself at the man, who had turned around at the sound of Vash's snarl, his face covered in fear at the oncoming onslaught. Vash didn't bother to try to fight this man with his knife; the man that had dared to try to hurt his sister would suffer the most. He would die by his hands, wrapped around his throat. He wouldn't be sated until he had chocked the life out of this violator. Vash's leap dragged the other man to the ground, and a wrestle ensued. Vash had the advantage, having both the emotional and superior position, but the violator had a size advantage on Vash. They're fight was harsh, each trading blows, but it was clear to see that it was a one sided fight, Vash was absolutely beating the guy. It didn't take him long to get his hands the other man's neck.

"Do you know what you're first mistake was?" Vash snarled out of his teeth.

The man shook his head, spittle flying from his mouth as he was chocked.

"You dared to attack my house. Do you know what you're second mistake was?"

Again the man shook his head, eyes bulging.

"You thought that you could kill me. Do you know what your final mistake was, one that would get you killed?"

The man's head shook violently, his entire body shaking as he died from oxygen starvation.

Vash pulled the man's head up to his face, and through clenched teeth he said, "You _dared_ to threaten my sister. You _dare _to hurt her. For that you will die." It was only a few more seconds before the man grew limp in his hands, the life throttled out of him. Vash stood over the body of the last attacked, the last of a group of men that he had killed, two with gunshots, one with a knife and the last by his hands. He disliked having to deal with all of these people at close range, getting blood on his fine clothes. He was still staring at the corpse at his feet when he heard a scream coming from the bed again.

He looked up from the body, towards Lili. She was even further back up the bed, her green eyes wide with both fright and horror. She dragged the bed covering up to her, shaking with fear, sweat dripping off of her. Vash stepped towards her, raising his arms out to her, but she screamed again, holding the beddings even tighter. He stepped back, aghast at the response he had gotten. He looked down at his shirt, seeing it blood drenched cloth, realising with horror just what she would be seeing. A man covered in blood, just having killed a man, reaching out towards her.

"Lili, it's me, Vash," he said to her, softening his voice.

"Big Brother?" she said, he voice dripping with fear.

Vash pulled of his bloodied shirt, leaving just a clean white shirt, his white shirt being good enough to keep all of the blood off of his undershirt. "It's alright Lili, all the bad people are gone now," he tried to soothe her.

She cried as he sat down on the bed, clinging on to him, "I was so scared big brother; you had all that blood…" She let out another sob.

"It's ok now," he whispered into her hair, "I've gotten rid of all of the bad people, they weren't hurt you anymore."

"But all that blood…"

"They were the bad men's. But we don't have time for this, we have to get going, our home is no longer safe."

She looked up at him with wide eyes, "But this is our home, Big Brother, where will we go?"

Vash got up from the bed, heading over to Lili's wardrobe, "I'll take you over to Mr Edelstine," he began, getting out Lili's robe, "After that I'll go found out what has happened."

"What about me Big Brother?" She asked, getting up and slipping on the robe when Vash handed it to her, taking care to not to look at the body at the front of the bed.

His hands around her shoulder, Vash led her out of her room, using his body to shield her from the horrific sight of his handy work. ""Mr Edelstine and Elizabeta will take care of you." They walked in silence through the rest of the house; the only sound between them was the rain beating on the roof and the thunder in the distance. Vash pushed Lili's head into his chest when they reached the bottom of the stairs, hiding the bloodied corpse of the man that he killed with his knife. He never wanted her to have to see him kill people, and he hopes with all his heart that his sister would forgive him after this.

They walked out the front door, into the thunderstorm raging across the mountain side. Vash stopped when he exited the house, trying to think of when he had made a mistake. Standing in the rain outside of the house, stood a man in a black kimono, holding out a katana to his side. "Lili, I want you to go back inside, and behind the door there is a rapier, I want you to go get it for me."

She did as he said, running back into the house, saying as she went, "Ok Big Brother."

Vash turned to the man in the kimono, staring at him hard, "So you are the one sent to kill me?"

The man bowed, saying "Yes."

Turning his head, looking down his nose, Vash commented, "I'm sorry to say that you won't be able to do that."

"I have it Big Brother," Lili shouted from behind him.

"Throw it to me," Vash replied, holding out his hand behind him. Lili threw the sword at him, catching it with one hand.

Vash readied the sword at before him, pointing at the Assassin sent after him, "Let us get this over and done with, I have somewhere to be."

"Let us fight then" The Assassin lowered his sword and charged at Vash.


	3. Chapter 3: Talks and Duels

Lightning flashed through the windows as the storm howled through the night.

Roderich turned away from watching the storm back to his guest and wife. Whilst holding his cup of tea he sat back down on the couch next to his wife Elizabeta, a beautiful woman with long brown hair and bright green eyes. Across from them sat Gilbert Beilschmidt, a young man with silver hair and bright red eyes, he was an old friend of both Roderich and Elizabeta. Gilbert had come over the night for dinner and supper, and now they were chatting idly to pass the time.

"So Gilbert," Roderich began, "What do you and your brother do now?"

Leaning back in his eat, he replied, "He decided to open up a garage, working on cars. I help him around with the customers mainly. What about you and Eliza?"

"Retired," Roderich sipped his tea, "After the last sale we had enough to live comfortably."

"So you sit around playing piano all day," Gilbert interrupted him, "That sounds so boring."

"And what is wrong with that?" Roderich returned, slightly annoyed, raising his free hand.

Elizabeta put her hand on Roderich, calming him, her eyes filled with love, "Dear, please calm down, you said you would be civil," she then turned to Gilbert, her eyes flinty, causing Gilbert to have old memories of frying pans and pain, "And that's the same to you to."

Gilbert rose up his arms in defence, "I can't help it if the Aristocrat is so touchy."

She continued to look at him for a few seconds, though she turned her attention back to her husband when he continued talking. "You know I don't like you calling me that," Gilbert shrugged to the comment, "and I don't spend my entire time playing piano. I also tutor Lili on weekdays."

"Lili, that's Vash's younger sister isn't she?"

Roderich sipped his tea again, "Yes she is."

"How has that old stick in the mud been? I haven't seen him since the Russian job a few years back."

"We don't actually get to see him," Elizabeta answered, "But Lili says that he is fine, though still very taken up with his work."

"That sounds like Vash, only caring about money and his sister," Gilbert laughed.

They continued chatting for a while, discussing the other people that they know and the work that they used to do. Eventually Elizabeta got up to go get stronger drinks, a fine wine for her and Roderich, and a beer for Gilbert. As she sat down, placing a tray down on the coffee table, the doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" Elizabeta asked.

Gilbert instantly turned to Roderich and said, "How many people know where you live?"

"Not many," Roderich replied, worry tinging his voice, "We decided to live in the mountains to get away from the people."

Standing, Gilbert pulled a pistol out from the small of his back, "And I'm guessing those that should know wouldn't be visiting in the middle of a thunderstorm."

"I guess we should greet them anyway," Roderich said, standing up as well, "Eliza, would you please get ready in the kitchen for some guests."

She nodded in response as Gilbert then said, "Let's go say hello then."

They both headed down towards the main door, Gilbert taking the lead, his pistol held out before him and Roderich a few feet behind him. When they reached the door they swapped positions, Roderich in front to open the door and Gilbert behind to cover him.

Before he opened the door though, he looked through its people. Suddenly though he threw open the door, throwing away caution as he ran out into the thunderstorm.

Gilbert quickly followed after him, shouting, "You dumb Aristocrat! What are you doing?!"

Roderich had run out into the rain, straight towards two dark figures huddling together in the downpour. Gilbert stood against the doorway as he watched Roderich run, his pistol trained on the two figures that he ran at. It took a few seconds for Gilbert to realise who had come to this isolated house at such ungodly hours, and when he did realise, he dropped his gun and ran after Roderich.

For standing in the rain was Lili, dressed in what appeared to be her pyjamas and nightgown, though it was thoroughly soaked. But what caused Gilbert to run as if demons were on his tail was the body she was barely keep on his feet, Vash. Vash looked like he had gone through the seven pits of hell, his shirt torn and soaked with blood, a gash across his chest.

As Gilbert approached he could hear Lili pleading, "Please help Big Brother, I can't stop the bleeding." She collapsed as soon as Roderich got to her, falling into his arms. Gilbert got there just in time to catch Vash as he slipped from Lili's arms.

Vash woke with a start, sitting up in the bed he was lying in. He instantly regretted that decision, as his chest started to burn from his wounds. He breathed heavily through his nose as he lay back down in the bed. He ran his hands along his chest, checking the wounds he had receive from the previous night that had now been bandaged. Luckily for him they had been fairly shallow, nothing more than cuts, but they still ran the length of his chest, making his movements painful for now.

The door opened suddenly grabbing Vash's attention. "Good, you're awake," Roderich said as he walked in, carrying a tray of tea and biscuits.

"Edelstine, where am I?" Vash asked, confused about his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was fighting the assassin in the rain.

Roderich sat down on the chair next to his bed, placing the tray on the side table. "At my house," he answered. He took one of the cups of tea and passed it Vash, then taking the other cup for himself.

Vash sipped in the tea, grimacing after he did so, "You know I detest tea."

"You might, but it's good for you," Roderich retorted, "And Elizabeta made it, so you will drink it."

Against such an ultimatum Vash drank the tea, though he honestly would have preferred to have a cup of coffee. The only other times he would drink tea is when Lili would make it for him. "Where is Lili?" Vash asked his voice tinged with concern, realising that she wasn't here and that he didn't know what has happened to her since the duel.

"She's sleeping at the moment, Elizabeta is with her. What I'm more concerned with is what happened to you. If Gilbert Beilschmidt wasn't here, you would be in a lost worse condition."

"Gilbert Beilschmidt? White hair, red eyes, tends to brag and loves himself too much?"

Roderich sipped again before he replied, "That's him. He said that you had worked with him before."

"A while ago, though I thought he was retired."

"He is."

Vash took one of the biscuits from the tray as he put his teacup back, eating it, "Then why is a retired mercenary visiting an old fence and a thief?" he asked between bites.

"We went to the same school. I would say that you should remember, but you never came to school. But never mind that," Roderich placed his teacup back down onto the tray, "I want to know why have you come here? You've never done that before."

"I had nowhere else to go. And believe me, I'd rather I didn't."

Roderich sighed, "You need to rely more on other people Vash."

Vash laid back into the bed, turning his face away from Roderich, "Are you here to ask me questions or to berate me? Because if you have nothing else to ask I need to rest so I can leave here as soon as possible."

"I would like to know how you got those wounds," Roderich began as he stood up, "But we'll wait until tonight when you can tell all of us." He picked up the tray as he left, leaving Vash in the bed, having already fallen asleep again.

Vash parried the Assassins first slash as he lunged towards him, deflecting it to the side. Vash quickly countered, lunging towards the leg, but the Assassin quickly dodged back, recovering from his first attack. Vash's opponent was definitely well trained, and he will not be easily to defeat. What Vash needed to do for now was to discern his opponent's tactics, to try and find an opening that he could use.

Vash's thoughts were then rudely interrupted as the Assassin came back in for another attack. This time Vash kept wholly on the defence, using his rapier to deflect the half incoming attacks, dodging the other half. The one thing he could not do was take the attacks head on. The Assassin's katana would easily snap Vash's thin rapier in half, and lead to his death. So whenever the Assassin lashed at him, Vash would use his sword to ride along his opponent's blade, turning it away from Vash's body as he also stepped to the side, making the katana miss him completely.

Their fight continued on for what Vash felt like was ages, countless amounts of attacks and parry's, as the rain continued to pour down on them, Lili watching silently from the house. The rain was to Vash's advantage in this fight. Whilst the rain had soaked his clothes, weighing down his body and arms as he defended himself, it also slowed down his opponent even more, who was wearing much thicker cloth. Vash knew that this difference was what gave him the opportunity to win this fight, without it he would most likely have lost by now.

After a while Vash was able to discern the attack pattern of his opponent. He would first lunge in, lashing out quickly across Vash's chest. Then he takes two high swipes to his head, then a quick low attack at the knees. He ends by jumping back and preparing for a counter attack, which Vash doesn't give. After a few seconds of waiting, he then repeats the attack but reverse the order. There was no direct opening Vash could find in his opponents assault, his movements too fast for Vash to slip through his guard and skewer him.

"Why do you not attack, you cannot expect to win if you do not attack," The Assassin suddenly spoke.

Vash kept up his guard, and silently watched his opponent, not replying to the question. The Assassin waited for a few seconds before he shrugged, realising that Vash wasn't going to respond to his questions, and renewed the assault.

During this attack Vash as able to see the only possible opening in the Assassin's attacks. As the Assassin lunges forward to slash at his chest, there is an opening at his legs. The only issue is that if Vash is to take that opening, he would most likely get cut. But as Vash parried the current barrage, he knew that he couldn't keep this fight on for much longer, his arms growing heavy with fatigue. He needed to end it now. When the Assassin lunged for the next attack, Vash took his opportunity. Just as the Assassin closed and slashed out, Vash stepped forward as well, aiming his sword low. Pain flared across his chest as it got lay open by his enemy. But he continued moving, driving his sword through the Assassin's leg, running him through.

Vash let go of his sword, stumbling backwards. He waited for the killing blow, not knowing whether or not he had done enough damage to win the fight. But it never came. Instead his enemy had also stumbled backwards, dropping his katana and taking grip of the sword now in his leg. Vash took this opportunity to run, stumbling towards Lili. But he didn't get far before he blacked out to seeing Lili rush towards him.

"And that's what happened," Vash said, finishing retelling the events of the past night, when he was attacked.

"You actually let yourself get hit just to finish the fight?" Gilbert asked, leaning forward in his seat, entranced by any sort of fight.

"It was that or die," Vash replied, rubbing the bandages across his chest.

"So you were the target of an assassination attempt?" Roderich asked, sipping tea again.

"Yes, it appears that someone wants me dead."

Roderich put down his teacup, a sure sign that the discussion was about to get serious, "What do you intend to do about this?"

"Normally I wouldn't be fazed much; I've had people attack me before, but never at my house. The fact that they've hurt Lili means I will need to found out who sent them and stop them."

Elizabeta walked into the room, sitting down next to Roderich on the couch. "Lili has gone to bed," she said.

Again pulling at his bandages, Vash asked, "How is she?"

"She's asleep now, though she has been scared all day. From what I got from her, and what I was able to hear from you, she had a terrifying night. She had to see her brother kill someone, and watch him fight to the death," Elizabeta answered.

Vash was silent for a few seconds, contemplating what he had let happen to her. "Roderich, I need to ask a favour of you."

"That's a surprise, you rarely ask for anyone's help. What do you need?"

"I need you to take care of Lili for me for a while. Home isn't safe anymore and this the only place I can think of that she could stay."

"Of course she can stay," Elizabeta replied for her husband, "She's like a niece to us, she is always welcome here."

"Thank you," Vash stood up from his seat, looking out into the clear night through the window opposite him, "I need to be leaving now though."

Vash started to head towards the front door of the house, even as Elizabeta and Roderich started protesting that he shouldn't be leaving right now. He ignored them though, keeping silently as he moved onwards.

"I'm going with you," Gilbert said, leaning against the doorway.

Stopping, Vash glared at Gilbert, wondering how he got there before him, "What do you mean you are coming?"

Gilbert shrugged, "Sounds like you're going to get into a fight. Home's getting boring, and I need something to do." He then smiled a smile that had made girls in high school sigh, "That and you'll need my awesome skills to kill whoever is after you."

"I'm guessing that there is going to be no way to persuade you not to go?"

"Yep, I want to show off my awesome skills, that and I'm so _bored_."

Vash turned around to Roderich and Elizabeta, who had caught up and were now standing behind him, "Are you fine with me leaving as long as Gilbert comes with me?"

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to Lili?" Elizabeta asked.

"No, it's better if she doesn't know where I have gone. She doesn't need to worry needlessly."

Roderich put his hand on Vash's shoulder, saying "Don't get killed out there."

Shrugging off the hand, Vash walked past Gilbert and out of the house, "Take care of Lili for me. Are you coming Gilbert?"

"Time to be fucking awesome again; of course I am, where to first?" Gilbert said, following after Vash into the empty night.

"Back to my house, there are some things I need to get."


End file.
